Literary Analysis Essay on The Stranger by Albert Camus

The Stranger is a book written by Albert Camus about the life of a young man who goes through difficulties both emotionally and physically. The author is objective about the thoughts that he brings out in the book. Despite the fact that the writer does not borrow from other sources, his way of thinking is one that can be considered reliable. He relates his plot of story carefully to clearly defined themes in a day-to-day life. This happens in such a way that when one reads through the book, its very easy to relate the occurrences with the modern world. This gives the book an upper hand thus considered a serious piece of literature and not a mere fantasy.

In brief, themes brought out in this book actually relates to the themes that come to play in the book The Age of Reason by Jean-Paul Sartre. These two books tend to share common grounds of the plot as well as the two themes of freedom and war. The two writes portend their tactical way of reasoning showing out how they are able to bring forth meaningful thoughts amidst of a catchy story. The book strongly reveals how situations can lead to the total turn of event in ones life. That with some sort of pain and torture in life, most individuals can lose a sense life forever. Take for instance the case Meursault who loses a sense emotional feeling following a series of events in his life. Such play of event can as well erode the sense of cultural respect that exists in the society; they can strip one of the ability to regard others as a human beings who deserves respect and fair treatment in a phase of life. I strongly tend to believe that crime is the root cause of all the arrogance in the society that we live in today.

The title, The Stranger, refers to a number of points in the text away from the character of Meursault. Despite the fact that Meursault does indeed come across as a stranger, it is also important reflecting how other players also feel estranged from each other and the society. Friendship, with the exemption of Mersaults mother, they are not ever true kind, hidden motives are played behind their actions or they do not appeal to the reader as real" relationships. The book also looks into the aspect of disparity in the world surrounding the boy. On the grounds of disparity, there exists a notion of absurdity that comes as a key player in the novel.

The writer in his book is widely recognized as one of the best enduring figures of the postwar period, he is thus appreciated in his metaphysical despair and intensity in the nature of his imagery in his writings. In this book, he proved to be an objective writer that relates the events in write work with the current development in the society. You will agree with my point of view that though the stranger is work of fiction, the author philosophically, puts a strong resonance notion of absurdity. Carefully, the author reveals a point of thought that the human existence, as well as the individual lives, are in a general existence that has no rational meaning or order. His argument on the irrationality of the universe is strongly supported in the manner that he brings out occurrences to the young man in the story that draws basis from war and crime in the society.

The author focuses on the life of Meursault to bring out the fact that neither the external world nor the internal world that comprises his thoughts and attitude depicts any rational order. In the build of the ideas pertaining absurdist philosophy, the author embraced the theme of human having no redeeming purpose or meaning. In this argument, he puts it that the inevitability of death is the only certain thing. And thus explaining that, by the fact that all human beings will finally die life is meaningless. This depicts out in the novel where the author periodically juxtaposes the happiness of Meursault with the realization of the inevitability of death. The crime that happenings around Meursault, makes him come to terms with the fact that; either he dies by execution or live for a natural death. These crime happenings rob him the purpose of life in the society, making him fail to appreciate any cultural practices in life. For instance, he does not see the sense of observing cultural protocol in the burial of his mother. He is depicted to be in his own world.

From my critical analysis of the novel, the author holds as strong control over his themes, he is explosive in his approaching methods of argument he conversely builds ideas through the main character. His umbras of the themes around Meursault gives a different picture from what I had expected at first glance of the title of the book. I can say he is charismatic in his approach of ideas. He uses literal statements to depict thoughtful ideas along the book. But again the writer's way of thinking matches with my argument on the effects of crime in the human mental and physical way of living. From the way he presents the change of perception of life in Meursault, I am able to relate it with the strong attributes that I have had pertaining human psychological effects of war. Prior to the reading of the book, I had this sense of life as a long journey that is certain, but upon reading this novel, I can confidently say that my perception of life has changed. There are a lot of uncertainties in life, whether you live to wake up tomorrow or not, whether you will archive your dreams or not, but one thing remains certain; everyone actually has to die.

In summary, the book can be useful in encouraging readers to reflect on their characters and how they are willing to treat others. In the first part of the story culture and crime come to play, we see Meursault tries to defend and his friend being betrayed by his girlfriend but in the process, we realize that Meursault commits a crime by shooting someone without any emotional feel. Following the pain and torture that Meursault has gone through in the society in form of culture and war crimes, Meursault has lost all sense of emotions. It also depicts out in the point of his mothers funeral where he shows no feelings of sorrow. The culture and crime integration around the life of Meursault have changed is ways of life completely, leaving him a stranger in this face of the earth.

Works Cited

McCarthy, Patrick, 1941-2007. (1988). Albert Camus, The stranger. Cambridge [Cambridgeshire] ; New York :Cambridge University Press,

Camus, Albert. The stranger. New York: A.A. Knopf, 2006. Print.